


Dark Waters

by thelasttrueshipper



Category: Free!
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, Multi, Water Spirit, haunted, slight horror not really, water ghouls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-02-25 00:00:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2601179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelasttrueshipper/pseuds/thelasttrueshipper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto, Nagisa and Haruka aren't quite human, having never left the dark pond, they haven't stepped out for a long time. Haruka isn't quite over his friend's departure, Makoto is a little too transfixed on Haruka and someone seems to have caught Nagisa's attention, the only problem is that he's human.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Who's that?

**Author's Note:**

> please tell me if i should continue i suck at this so bad

the water was dead, if you looked into it you couldn't see the bottom because it was dark. the water has always reflected the sky, everything was quiet, it was in the middle of the night. 

someone emerges from the surface of the water, his hair dripping wet. the sclera of his eyes all black. 

"ah the breeze is cooler at night, isn't it? Haru?" 

a loud splash was heard and the green haired giggled. 

"not a good idea to make so much noise in the middle of the night"

Haru remained silent, still threading in the water, a force of yellow knocks them over sending them all back into the water. 

"Hah! I got you both didn't I?" Nagisa exclaimed, he had a playful grin plastered to his face. 

"Ow ow that hurt a little, you didn't have to do that you know?"  
Makoto said as he rubbed his shoulder. "you've been a bit restless these days..." 

"I can't help it, it gets lonely here. Especially since we spend most of the day hiding and all" he said with a pout before swimming back down, deeper into the water. 

"Let him be, he's just bored" Haru commented. 

"...ah well...it, can't be helped" Makoto replied with a pause. It was just the 3 of them. There had been 4 but he left due to "personal reasons" though Makoto guessed it was more of his feud with Haru. It was as if the 2 of them had something special, friendship, rivalry, admiration and respect. Sometimes Makoto couldn't help but feel a little left out. But with Rin gone, Makoto started feeling just slightly awkward, as if the silence between then should have been filled with all the words left unsaid in his mind. They were close, but not as close as how Haru had been with Rin. Makoto couldn't help but feel a little jealous but then, who wouldn't be?

•__________•

 

It was around 5 am when Nagisa decided to swim back up to the surface. He took this time to admire his place of residence. The 3 of them lived in what seemed to be a very deep pond, the pond surrounded a dilapidated house which has been abandoned for sometime, the wood starting to rot and the torn paper screens dis colored from age. The pond was big, it surrounded the house, which was a strange layout. There used to be fishes in the pond but all have died, the flowers which once floated on the surface of the pond have also wilted. Everything about the place was eerie, but still, it was next to the pathway, all he had to do was peer through the bushes at the front of the house. The pathway where people would stroll down to get to the beach or to town. 

The silence was broken by footsteps, no this person was running. As the footsteps got louder, Nagisa heard a soft panting. Someone was jogging down the pathway.   
He was beautiful. At least to Nagisa anyway. Deep ocean blue hair slicked with sweat, eyes which matched his hair framed by a red pair spectacles. He jogged past quickly and with that he was gone. Nagisa felt a strange sense of amusement and yet emptiness because he knew he wouldn't be seeing the boy anytime soon. 

Unless of course. He chooses to leave the pond. It was risky but possible. They needed to be constant hydrated and leaving the pond means being exposed to sunshine and all sorts of weather elements. He also needed to do something about his appearance. People are going to scream if they saw that the whites of his eye were just jet black and his nails were sharp like a cats. He could fix how his lower body looked of course, morphing it into something more human. He was mostly water anyway. 

•______•


	2. Where am I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa left the pond, where's he heading?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((you're gonna have wait pretty long for the next chapter bc i just finished this chapter today))

"HARU! Haru! Have you seen Nagisa?! I can't seem to find him!" Makoto was flailing about the water.   
"Did you check the water?" Haru said expressionless.   
Makoto sighed. "of course I did we ARE in water. The pond is only so big I can't think of anywhere else he would be"  
"Maybe he left the water. "  
"Nagisa? Why would he do that? "  
Haru pointed at the dilapidated house, the door was slightly ajar. "would explain the opened door and footprints outside".   
"Should we go look for him?"  
"I think we will complicate things if we do so. He should know his way back anyway. If he isn't back by night time we will go."

•________•  
Everyone was looking at him strangely. Then again if you did see him you would be staring too. Dressed in an old tattered dirty white yukata, with robes dragging on the ground, Nagisa loosely tied bandages around his eyes, trying to hide his abnormal eye color. His hair was wet and dripping and he was bare footed.   
"Wow it's been sometime since I have left. Things look so different!"  
The sun has already risen and he had spent most of his time just walking out to the nearest town.   
He dug out some out coins, unsure whether or not people still used this currency. "I should get something decent to wear".   
He walked into the nearest store which seemed to sell all kinds of sports items and apparel.   
Basketballs, volleyballs, netballs filled the shelf. There were all kinds of things, things he have never seen before. Nagisa's eyes widened as he ran around exploring the store, picking up different items and scrutinizing them.  
"Can I help you with anything?" a sales-assistant asked. He was getting a lot of stares from the other customers but you would too if you see a bandaged kid in tattered clothes running around a sports shop.  
"Ah yes! Whoaaaa...there's so many things here...um, I'd like to get something to wear!"  
"Uh...okay...what kind of sports do you do?" she asked, trying to get a look under his bandages.   
"Sports? I...I'm in the water pretty often?" He scratched his head, giving a playful grin, trying to pull his bandages further down his face as in conspicuously as he could.  
"Oh so like a swimming costume? That will be this way then", she walking in the direction of said items, not once turning back to look at Nagisa.  
.  
"Wow thanks! I'll look around then!" he said as he lifted his hand to his head, as if saluting the sales-assistant.  
She nodded and walked off.  
He spent some time touching and feeling the different swimming trunks, the material was foreign in his hand, the texture alien. There were so many colors to choose from, he closed his eyes and ran down the racks, pausing randomly and picking up the item which his hand has landed on. It was a black pair of swimming trunks with a red streak along the side. He smiled and headed for the exit.  
"Excuse me, you need to pay for that, Sir" It was the same sales-assistant, she had a questioning look. Nagisa took a while to understand what she meant, he just walked towards her and handed her the bunch of old coins he had.  
"Ah! Sorry! Um...Will this cover it?"  
Her eyes widened and she choked on a cough.  
"These currencies were used before I was even born! They are of really high value now! Where did you get this?"   
Nagisa was about to give a reply but she continued. "2 coins are more than enough to cover this, I'll take this currency but you tell no one about this okay?"  
He swallowed and nodded, unsure whether or not he should trust her. She swiftly took the item, scanned it and packed it up, handing him the bag and escorting him out of the store quickly.   
He held up his tattered yukata. “Is it really that bad?” he wondered. Ah well, he didn’t want to attract a lot of attention anyway so changing out into something new wasn’t such a big deal.  
He slipped on the the pair of swimming trunks and draped the yukata over his shoulder, he left his bandages on of course, not wanting to risk being asked about his eyes.   
The heat was getting more intense. What time is it? How long has it been since he left the water? He could feel his body taking the toll, his throat and skin was getting dry, his hair had long dried and he felt as if his skin would crack any moment.  
“I need to get back to the pond…” he muttered to himself, covering his face, in a futile attempt to shield his face from the sun.   
He started walking in the direction he came from, staggering a bit at first but finally got his legs to stop caving in and picked up the pace. He covered his face as he moved, trying to hold the loose bandages in place. 

Bam.  
He knocked against someone or something.  
“You should have looked where you’re going!” the voice said. Nagisa could hear his light panting, he opened his eyes and peeked at the person through his fingers.  
“Ah! You’re that-“ Nagisa stopped himself. This blue-haired boy did not know him, they were strangers. He couldn’t think of a way to explain where he first saw him without scaring him. The boy noticed Nagisa’s silence and asked “are you alright? It was my fault in a way too, but-“  
“I’m sorry! I have to go!” Nagisa stood up quickly and kept running, not realizing that he left his tattered robe behind.  
“Hey wai-“ but Nagisa was already running.  
•________•


	3. It can't be helped

Footsteps, getting louder, approaching quickly.  
Haru and Makoto exchanged questioning looks but neither hesitated to duck underwater.   
The footsteps got louder and a splash was heard.  
“Nagisa?!” they both exclaimed.  
•________•  
“Nagisa, your face is red, a-are you crying?” Makoto asked, his hands pressed against Nagisa’s cheeks. “You’re burning up!”  
“Nagisa, where were you? and what are you wearing?” Haru asked scrutinizing his strange get-up.  
Nagisa wiped his tears with the back of his hand. “No it’s nothing…” he morphed back into his original body, the swimming trunks slipping off and floating up to the surface.   
“Nagisa-“ Makoto was about to probe further but Haru placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.   
•________•  
Nagisa swam deeper into the pond, he kept swimming till he could reach the bottom and sat down on the hardened mud floor. He felt his face, hands tracing his body, feeling his skin. “How do people see me?” he wondered. He scratched off some sand from the floor, and felt the cool, grainy feel of it. He wanted to talk about it, he wanted to ask Haru and Makoto. But sometimes it’s better to keep somethings to himself, it would be out of character for him to do so anyway. He tried picturing their reaction, their stunned expressions. “It can’t be helped!” he forced a giggle before swimming back to Makoto and Haru.  
•________•  
“What do you think happened?” Makoto sighed. This has never happened before. He can’t even remember when they last left the water ad he never expected Nagisa to go alone.   
“He got bored, left the water. His body probably couldn’t take the heat and he came back. I don’t know why he was crying though…” Haru said, floating on the surface of the water on his back.   
“Was he upset…maybe?”  
“Upset? He was fine last night.”  
There was a pause, as if both of them were at a loss of words to say, as if after being friends for so long, they didn’t understand their friend enough to cough up a reason for why he would have felt that way.  
Makoto continued, “Have you ever wondered…”  
Haru turned to look at him but Makoto didn’t meet his eyes, he was instead looking into the distance.  
“How we got like this? I mean, were we ever human?” he mumbled.  
Haru tipped his head back, feeling the cool water on the nape of his neck. “Yes”, he closed his eyes. “But there’s no point remembering right? It’s not like we can do anything, trying to remember it will only get everyone upset.”  
Makoto nodded. “Don’t you ever get bored being in the water all the time?” He realized how dumb that question was and forced out a laugh. “Sorry, I meant, do you ever want to be human again?”  
Haru kept silent. Makoto tried reading his friend’s expression but Haru always had a pokerface and he gave up. Their friendship goes way back but Makoto knows better than to probe further. He figured that was all the conversation they could have for this topic and shrugged. Running his fingers through his hair, he dove into the water, leaving Haru to himself.   
•________•

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im really slowwww......


	4. Possibilities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVENT UPDATED FOR SO LONG IM SORRY SHORT CHAPTER

“Nagisa!”

“Makoto!”

“Nagisa, are you feeling better?” He placed the back of his hand against Nagisa’s forehead. “Ah great, your temperature has gone down.”  
Nagisa retracted back a little. “Im sorry…about…leaving…” he turned away, a bit embarrassed to meet Makoto’s eyes.   
“It’s okay, I understand that it gets boring here, but don’t do things which will make us worry okay? You scared us!”   
Nagisa nodded.   
They both swam to the surface. The color of the sunset was melting into the pond, red, orange, yellow.   
Nagisa heard a familiar voice and his eyes widened.  
“Where did he go? Did he really go that far? I might as well head home…The odds of me catching up to him was lower than calculated…”  
Nagisa then remembered his torn robe, he might have dropped it while running back to thepond or perhaps he left it on the ground.   
“He followed me?” Nagisa whispered to no one.   
“Nagisa?” Makoto looked at Nagisa. “Um, is that someone you know?”  
Nagisa swam to look for his trunks and put them back on, his lower body morphing into legs. He hopped out of the water quickly, leaving a very confused Makoto behind.

•________•

 

Nagisa ran again, he had fumbled out of the water and almost tripped on the small pebbles.   
“Wait up!”   
The blue haired boy turned back.   
“Ah! It’s you-“  
“I’m sorry! Thank you so much for bringing back my yukata…” Nagisa said to the ground. Had he always been this shy? Was it the adrenalin from seeing a new face? Or perhaps the desire to keep interacting with this charming stranger?   
Nagisa kept thanking the boy but the boy wasn’t listening. He was shocked, afraid, maybe a little curious and wary of this blonde. This blonde who was dripping wet from head to toe and had seemed to have run out from nowhere. He wondered if he should ask the boy for answers he is dying to know. He debated with himself if his candid question would come across rude, or if it would be better for him to keep quiet about it and wait till they are somewhat closer.  
And then he paused.  
Since when did the idea of being closer to this stranger ever come across his mind? He had spent his life, juggling school and club activities. He was a good student, good grades. Academics had always come first, but he did not neglect his club activities. In fact, he excelled. He enjoyed Track. He loved the aesthetic appeal of pole-vaulting. His mind filled with calculations, he would wait for the right moment to leap, the right moment to swing himself over, just to achieve that perfect form. 

And yet since when did the thought of associating himself with this stranger, this stranger who seemed to embody the idea of really being alive, the epitome of youthfulness, ever reach him?   
“I’m sorry…um.. but I didn’t get your name the last time…I’m Nagisa! Please to meet you!” He boldly grabbed the other boy’s hand and shook it.   
He would be lying if he said he wasn’t taken aback by this stranger, no, if he wasn’t taken aback by Nagisa. But he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and maybe it was the fatigue or the weather or the fact that now that Nagisa was actually looking at him, he realized the latter’s eyes were glowing red but he felt like this meeting could actually mean something. That it would change his life.

**Author's Note:**

> ITS MEANT TO BE GLOOMY IM SORRY


End file.
